Container filling method and apparatus



June 6, M6? T, a. STURGES CONTAINER FILLING METHOD AND APPARATUS 2Sheets-Shet Vl Filed oci. 19, 1964 NVENTOR. ima/ww' @DW/WIM@ June 6,1967 T. B. sTuRGEs-I CONTAINER FILLING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Oct.19, 1964 al' M C United States Patent 3,323,559 CONTAliNER FLLLINGMETHOD AND APPARATUS Thomas B. Sturges, Menlo Park, Calif., assignor toCrown Zellerhach Corporation, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation ofNevada Filed Oct. 19, 1964, Ser. No. 404,709 12 Claims. (Cl. 141-10)This invention relates to the packaging of fiowable material comprisingsolid particles, such as pulverulent or granular material and, moreparticularly, to a method of and `apparatus for filling containers, suchas bags, with materials of such character, for example, carbon black,kaolin clay, diatomaceous earth, fertilizers, insecticides or the like.

Customarily, materials of such type are packaged in bags or sacks whichare quite often made from paper and have opposite side Walls of multiplesheets of such paper and which are `sewed or otherwise closed at eachend thereof at the time of manufacture. Such bags, commonly calledmulti-wall bags, usually have a filling opening at a corner adjacent anend thereof. The filling is generally of the valvular type, i.e., aflexible closure valve is included therein by which it can be closed. l

A common type of apparatus for filling such bags includes a fillingspout from which the material to be introduced into the bag can be fed.The bag to be filled is mounted on such spout by positioning the fillingopening of the bag circurnjacently about the spout so that the `spout isinserted into the bag. The feeding of the material through the spoutinto the bag can be accomplished in a number of ways. For example, thematerial can be entrained in a gaseous medium (most commonly air); andflow of the resulting mixture of .air and material through the spout iseffected under pressure to introduce the material into the bag, or anauger can be provided within such spout and rotated in a direction tointroduce such material into the bag. Such auger can also be used inconjunction with a gas medium with which the material is entrained toforce the material into the bag. When the bag has been filled with thedesired amount of material, the feeding means is stopped and the bag isremoved or discharged from the spout.

In prior filling operations, the bag is suspended from the filling spoutwith its filling opening at the top. Consequently, the material enteringthe bag falls freely downwardly into the bag as it is filled. Under suchconditions, the air Within the bag, and the gas entering the bag, if gasflow is utilized to feed the material into the bag, cause many problems.Such gas is entrapped in the material as the material fills the bag,with'the result that the material becomes highly aerated. Due to thepresence of both such gas and material in the bag, a larger package sizeis required than is necessary to hold any given amount of material. Thiscomplicates shipping and storing as Well as resulting in a high packagecost. In addition, because of such aeration of the material, much dustis produced during the emptying of the bag and use of the material.

Gas entering the bag and the air already therein also causes problemsduring the bag filling operation. The gas that is not entrapped in thematerial leaves the bag during such filling primarily through the Asmallspaces around the filling spout between it and the bag opening or valve.In so leaving, the gas carries material with it, resulting in wastageand a dusty filling operation. This problem is particularly acute whenthe bag is approach ing a substantially full condition. At such time,the gas at the top of the bag is highly mixed with material and, as itescapes from the bag, carries large amounts, as much `as five poundssometimes, of material with it. Also, when the bag is removed from thefilling spout7 the `aerated material at the top spurts through thefilling opening from the bag, thereby greatly adding to the `wastage anddustiness, and making it difficult to till the bag.

The present invention overcomes the foregoing problems. summarizing thesame, it comprises filling the bag with the bag supported or orientedWith its filling opening at its bottom, namely, in inverted or upsidedown position. Apparatus for so supporting the bag includes means abovea bag filling spout for `maintaining the bag in such inverted position,and means below the spout to engage an end of the bag, and hold the sameadjacent the spout during the lling operation, Such method `andapparatus are particularly effective when used in conjunc tion with abag filling machine employing air or other gas as the means of feedingthe material into the bag, and will be `described in connection withsuch type of filling, although they can be employed with other fillingmechanism, such as augers.

As a result of the particular bag orientation, the material iscontinuously deaerated during filling. That is, the gas and materialentering the bag flow upward through any material already forced intothe bag and continuously agitates the same. This agitation separates theentrapped gas from such material in the bag, and leaves the material ina deaerated condition. The gas escaping from the material .assists insuch deaeration by collecting the surrounding gas and carrying it upwardinto the unfilled upper bag space. Conventional types of bags employedcommercially in the filling of materials of the aforementioned type areof material, such as paper or fabric which are inherently gas pervious.Therefore, the gas can readily escape through the bag walls from theunfilled space as the bag is being filled. Because of the escape of thegas and the deaeration of the material which occurs during the filling,the bag is essentially filled only with the material, i.e.,substantially no air or gas is in the bag.

The filling operation is essentially clean and no wastage of thematerial occurs. As` the gas escapes through the bag, any materialremaining entrained therewith is strained or filtered therefrom by thebag walls. In addition, the spout is inserted into the bag with thespout outlet or discharge nozzle inwardly of the bag valve. Thus, as thebag is filled, the deaerated material which collects and compacts aroundthe bag valve, is quiescent and presses the valve tightly around thespout, thereby sealing the small openings around the spout andpreventing leakage.

As sepanation between the bag and the spout is effected by removal ofthe bag from the spout, the deaerated compacted material in the bagabove the spout automatically presses the valve toward closed positionand closes the bag valve, preventing spurting or sudden discharge of thematerial, Thus, it can be seen that throughout the whole fillingoperation, material does not escape and, as a result, such operation isclean, free of dust formation, and no material wastage occurs.

Besides providing a more efficient and cleaner filling operation, thepresent invention also enables easier access to the filling equipmentand lowers the vertical space requirements therefor. Since the bag isnot suspended from the spout, but rather supported above it, the spoutcan be placed lower than heretofore. Hoppers or containers for thematerial to be packed into the bags are normally placed `above thefilling spout. By lowering the filling spout, such containers can alsobe lowered and brought within easy access of personnel.

From the preceding, it is seen that the invention has as its objects,among others, the provision of an improved and simple bag filling methodand apparatus in which the material being filled into the bag is`deaerated; in which leakage and wastage of the material during thefilling operation is minimized; and which allows easier access to, andreduction of, the height of the filling equipment. Other objects andadvantages of the invention will become apparent from a perusal of thefollowing more detailed description and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a more or less vertical sectional view of components of a wellknown type of bag filling apparatus showing apparatus of this inventionin association therewith, and a bag supported thereon for filling;

FIG. 2 is a partial end elevation of the apparatus of FlG. 1 without abag supported thereon, and looking in the direction of line 2 2 in FIG.1;

FilG. 3 is a partial end elevational view similar to FIG. 2 showing anempty oag on the apparatus of the invention;

fGS. 4 through 6 are schematic views illustrating an inverted bag beingfilled in which;

FIG. 4 depicts the material entering the bag at the beginning of thefilling;

FIG. 5 depicts the deaeration and flow of material during the filling;and

FIG. 6 depicts the deaerated -material in the bag when it is filled.

With reference to FIG. l, a bag filling apparatus generally indicated at11 includes a hopper or container 12 for holding a supply of material tobe bagged, feed control means 13 for controlling the flow of thematerial, and a bag weighing means 14. These components of the bagfilling apparatus are conventional, and are similar to those describedin U.S. Patent No. 2,996,858 to Swens-on, dated Aug. 22, 1961.

More particularly, as is illustrated in FIG. 1 and described and shownin the above patent, hopper 12 has a perforated bottom Wall 16 whichinclines toward hopper outlet openin'J 17. The perforations in Wall 16are small enough to inhibit passage therethrough of the material to bebagged, but allow passage of a gas under pressure, such as air, forconveying the material and introducing it into a bag to be filled. Achamber 18 is provided bel-ow perforated wall 16 and communicates by wayo-f inlet 19 with a conventional source (not shown) of the pressurizedgas. For economical reasons, it is usual that the conveying gas be air.

During the filling operation, gas entering the pressure chamber from thesource flows through the perforations in bottom wall 16, entrains thematerial particles therein, and passes with the entrained materialthrough outlet 17. A short cylindrical tube 21 communicates with outlet17 and is attached to hopper 12 in such communication by a ring 22 whichis welded or otherwise suitably secured to the hopper and tube. @ne endof la collapsible conduit Z3 of flexible material, such as rubber, issecured over the projecting end of tube 21 by a split ring clamp 24. Theother end of conduit 23 is secured by a split ring clamp 26 to an end ofanother tube 27. Tube 27 is secured at its other end to a fixedlymounted backing or support plate 28 in communication with an opening 29therein, by a ring 31 which is also suitably secured to such plate andtube.

Between hopper 12 and backing plate 28, is feed control means 13. Asdescribed in the aforementioned patent, such means includes tubepinching means comprising two hydraulic cylinders only one of which,indicated at 32, is shown in FlG. 1. These cylinders are horizontallyopposed, respectively, at sides of collapsible conduit 23, and actuate aramrod 33. In its retracted position, the ramrod of each cylinderslightly engages collapsible conduit 23. However, when the ramrods areboth fully pro* jected, they completely collapse conduit 23 and preventflow o-f material therethrough to control introduction of the materialinto a bag. By extending one or both of the ramrods to partiallycollapse the conduit, the rate of fiow of -material from hopper 12 canbe closely controlled in a conventional manner.

One end of a third short tube 34 is suitably secured on the forward sideof fixed backing plate 28 in communication with Aopening 29 by a ring 36welded to such backing plate and tube. Another flexible conduit 37,preferably of rubber, is attached at one end about the projecting end oftube 34 by a split ring clamp 38. The other end of conduit 37 is securedabout the inlet end 39 of a bag filling spout 41, to be more fullydescribed infra, by another split ring clamp 42. Spout 41 extendsthrough a slidable plate 43 forming part of the weighing mechanism, andis secured thereto by rings 44 welded to such slide plate and spout.

From the above, it is apparent that the various aforementioned conduitsand tubes form a continuous channel generally indicated by 46, `fromhopper 12 to filling spout 41; and flexible conduit 37 permits slightup-anddown movement of spout 41 in the slidable plate 43 of the weighingmechanism.

Weighing means 14 includes a conventional balancing arm 47 which extendsthrough an opening 48 at the bottom of fixed support plate 2S, and whichis supported adjacent such opening by a knife edge 49. The forward endof balancing arm 47 supports slide plate 43 on a second knife edge 51.As is best illustrated in FIG. 2, plate 43 is slidably positionedbetween opposed frame members 52 and 53 fixedly secured to support 28.Guides, two on each member 52 and 53, as indicated at 54 and 56, providetracks for weighing mechanism slide plate 43. Filling spout 41, as willbe more fully described later, and the weight of the bag being filledare car-ried on slide plate 43 which is, in turn, carried on the forwardend of balancing arm 47.

A conventional weight limit switch 57 is positioned at the rear end 58of arm 47, and is vertically adjustable with respect to such arm suchthat it can be adjusted to be in contact with the arm during the fillingoperation until the bag has received the desired amount of material. Asdescribed in the aforementioned patent, the weight of the material onthe bag will move slide plate 43 downward in guides 54 and 56, andthereby pivot arm 47 about knife edge 49. When the desired weight ofmaterial is in the bag, plate 43 will move arm 47 sufficiently that end58 thereof is no longer in contact with the switch S7, and such switchthereby closes contacts in conventional circuitry (not shown), such asdisclosed in the aforementioned patent to stop the fiow of material intothe bag and, if desired, initiate separation of the bag from the spoutby conventional discharge mechanism (not shown).

As stated previously, filling spout 41 extends through and is carried byslide plate 43. That portion 59 of spout 41 on the forward side of plate43 tapers inwardly in a direction away from plate 43. Thus, the bag tobe filled can be positioned onto `such spout with the spout in the bagfilling opening and extending laterally into the bag in a directiontransverse to the longitudinal axis of the bag so that a conventionalbag valve or edges of the filling opening engage the tapered portion ofthe spout. Such engagement aids in providing a no-leak seal between suchbag and the spout during the filling operation. The discharge end ornozzle of spout 41 is curved upwardly at its lower part to provide anupwardly directed nozzle discharge opening 60. Hence, such dischargenozzle will direct material and gas flowing therefrom and beingintroduced into the bag, upwardly into the bag; and the gas will beforced through material already present in such bag to agitate thematerial and deaerate the same. In this connection, movement of thematerial itself as it is forced upwardly into the bag cooperates inenhancing deaeration.

The structure for maintaining a bag in an inverted or upside downposition above spout 41 includes a support bracket, desirably in theform of a hood or shield 61 surrounding the spout and suitably securedsuch as by welding to slide plate 43. Such hood 61 serves to collect anyminor amount of material that might leak from the bag opening in thefilling operation.

A collar 62 is welded or otherwise suitably secured to the top ofbracket 61 and supports another bracket which is a bar or rod 63slidably received therein for lateral adjustment relative to the spout.A rod 64 is fixedly connected to bar 63 and extends upwardly withrespect thereto. Such rod 64 has a bag rest arm 66 fixedly attachedthereto at its upper end, and which extends therefrom in a directionabove and lengthwise of the spout 41 substantially parallel thereto. Theheight at which bag rest arm 66 is disposed above the filling spout isnot critical as long as it is sufiicient to maintain the lower portionof the bag above the filling spout. Desirably, however, due to theflexibility of the bag, it is above the midportion of the bag near thetop as shown in FIG. 3 in order to provide the best support for holdingthe bag upright with a side wall thereof against such rest 66 with theexterior of the bag exposed to the atmosphere and is thus maintained atsubstantially atmospheric pressure.

The horizontal or lateral position of rest arm 66 is such that when thebag expands during filling, it is held in substantially an uprightposition, but desirably inclined somewhat to enhance stability. Sincebar 63 is laterally adjustable, rest 66 can be laterally adjusted toenable the apparatus to accommodate bags of varying widths between the'side walls thereof. A set screw 67 through collar 62 enables bar 63 andhence arm 66 to be set at any desired location. While only one bag restarm 66 is shown, another such arm adapted to engage the other wall ofthe bag when it is expanded during filling can be provided, in order toinsure stability of the bag.

A saddle support structure is provided adjacent to but spaced from thebottom end of the bag for engaging such end and thus holds the bag. Suchsaddle comprises spaced rods 6? and 69 fixedly secured to scale slideplate 43, and extend lengthwise, desirably parallel, to spout 41adjacent the bottom portion thereof. Since the rods are spaced apartthey provide stability to the bag in its inverted position. If desired,a single relatively Wide arcuate saddle plate may be employed instead ofthe rods.

A conventional clamp 7i for holding the bag against filling spout lll isrigidly attached below the spout to the bottom of bracket hood 61, by anangle iron 72. Such clamp comprises an air cylinder 73 for actuating aclamping head 74 mounted for up and down movement which when air underpressure from a conventional source (not shown) is introduced throughair hose 76, is moved upward through the space between rods 68 and 69 toengage the end of a bag on spout 41 and clamp it securely against thebottom of such spout. In filling bags by heretofore apparatus, clamps,such as 71, have been employed but located above the spout.

After filling of a bag, the bag can be removed from the spout by hand,`or any suitable automatic bag discharge apparatus, such as thatdisclosed in the aforementioned patent, can be provided above theweighing means and spout to eject such bag from the spout. Also, it isto be understood that any suitable automatic control mechanism can beprovided for operating the bag filling cyclev by means of control of airthrough inlet 19, clamps 33, and clamp 71. Alternatively, manualcontrols may be provided.

Because of the cleanliness inherent in the instant method and apparatus,no vacuum system such as that disclosed in the aforementioned patentneed be provided to collect dust escaping from about the filling spout.In addition, no bag vibrating apparatus need be provided because of thehigh degree of compaction of the material obtained -by agitation thereofas it is introduced into the bag. Thus, it is apparent that the presentinvention greatly simplifies the bag filling operation and apparatustherefor.

The drawings illustrate filling of a conventional fiexible multi-wallpaper bag which has inherent gas perviousness allowing venting of gasthrough the bag walls. However, it can be employed with any type ofcontainer having a filling opening adjacent an end thereof, and meansfor venting air therefrom, for example, paperboard containers. If one ofthe walls of `a multi-wall bag or of a whole bag is of plastic material,such as polyethylene, that is not inherently gas pervious or ofpaperboard, it can be made pervious by the provision of a few minutepin-hole perforations in its walls, which will preclude substantialleakage of material. In a multi-wall bag of such gas mpervious material,the perforations in each ply -of each wall are desirably off-set fromthose in the adjoining plies to preclude leakage of material to theexterior of the bag. As used herein gas pervious includes bags and othercontainers which are not inherently so, ibut which allow venting of airthrough perforations or other means provided therein.

Desirably, the filling opening is of the conventional interiorvalve-type so that the valve can aid in sealing the container on thespout during lling and provide positive closing of the opening when thecontainer is removed from the spout. In addition, it is desirable thatsuch valve have an interior sleeve to further aid in. such sealing andpositive closing. The sleeve can be of any conventional type, forexample, of the slitted type.

The gas pervious bag 77 illustrated in the drawings has filling opening7 8 with an inwardly projecting valve collar 79 and an interiorconventional valve sleeve 81 attached to the collar. Such bag isoriented in an inverted position with its filling opening at the lowerend thereof, and circumjacently about bag filling spout 41. Desirably,the bag is drawn up over the tapered portion 59 of the spout so thatsuch spout engages the edges of the filling opening and the valve toassist in providing a tight seal between such bag and spout as the bagis being filled. The spout is of such length that its discharge orifice60 is desirably inwardly beyond sleeve 81 so that as will be seen later,full advantage is made of the sleeve in sealing the filling openingabout the spout during the filling. The upper portion of the bag restsagainst arm 66 as shown in FIG. 3, and clamp 7d is actuated to clamp thebag securely on the spout during the filling.

During the filling, as the air and material enter the bag, the upwardlyflowing gas escapes slowly through the gas pervious walls andsimultaneously blows up the bag. The initial material introduced intothe bag falls by gravity around the discharge end of spout 41. Asfurther material is forced into the bag by the flowing gas, it coversthe spout discharge nozzle, as shown in FIG. 4. Thus, further gas andmaterial entering the bag passes through that already collected aboutthe nozzle, and thereby continuously agitates the material already inthe bag causing it to release its entrapped gas.

As a consequence, all the material a.round.the spout is deaerated anddensified or compacted so that the weight of the material presses collar79 and sleeve 81 tightly around the spout, and thus seals all the smallopenings responsible for leakage when bags are filled with the fillingopening at the top in a conventional manner. While it is desirous thatthe filling opening have a valve sleeve 8l, the weight of the materialon collar 79 itself is sufiif cient to obviate substantial leakage.

As shown in FIG. 5, as more gas and material enter the bag, the gasfiows upwardly in a stream through the rnaterial carrying the gasentrapped in the neighboring material with it, thereby causing furtherdearation. The gas continues upwardly where it agitates the uppermostmaterial and deaerates it. As the material is deaerated it builds upalong the sides of the bag and becomes compacted. The gas flowingthrough such compacted material assists in collecting any minor amountof air in the compacted material, thus causing further deaeration.

Gas released into the upper unfilled portion of the bag vents outthrough the gas pervious walls of the bag. This venting is facilitatedby there being no appreciable material in the upper portion of the bagto hinder its escape. The little material that is still entrained in thegas in this portion of the bag is strained therefrom as it passesthrough the bag, i.e. the bag acts as its own filter. Because of naturalimpedance of the walls of the paper bag to the fiow of gas therethrough,the gas in the upper portion of the Ibag is under a slight pressure,e.g., 4 lbs/sq. in. gage pressure, in oontrast to conventional fillingmethods wherein the gas escapes around the spout. This slight pressurehelps to compact the material in the bag.

Since the material around spout 41 is deaerated and seals the bagopening, the bag can be completely filled to the desired weight withsubstantially no loss of material which occurs by escape of materialthrough the bag opening in conventional methods at the time the bag isalmost full.

When the bag is filled to desired weight, as shown in FIG. 6, all thematerial therein is substantially deaerated and compacted; and thefilling is terminated. As the bag is removed from the spout, the weightof the material above sleeve 8l and collar 79 presses them toward closedposition, to close the bag opening progressively. By the time the spoutis out of the bag opening 78, the valve is pressed tightly against thelower portion of the bag, thereby sealing the opening. Thus, while thevery last small amount of material entering the bag may possibly havesome entrapped air, it is prevented from spurting from the bag. It canbe seen therefore that throughout the entire bag filling opera-tion, noappreciable leakage occurs.

For introducing fiow of material into the bag, the gas pressure is thesame commonly employed for the filling of bags by heretoforeconventional bag filling operations with the bag hanging on the fillingspout, usually in the order of about 3 to l0 lbs. per sq. in. gagepressure. T-he following is a typical example of a bag filling operationby the method and apparatus hereof.

Employing a standard 4-ply valve-equipped paper bag -of the split valvesleeve type, ydesigned to hold 50 libs. of material, and supported inthe manner of this invention, ldiatomaceous earth powder was introducedthrough the bag opening by flow of air at a gage pressure of about 5lbs/sq. in. A gage pressure of approximately 4 lbs/sq. in. built up inthe upper portion of the bag and helped compact the diatomaceous earth.Without the use of bag vibration means and without providing anyexterior agitation of the material, the bag was filled to its usu'alvolume and afterwards weighed. It was found that 58 lbs. of material wasin the 50 lb. bag, a 16% gain over that realized in conventionalright-side-up filling of a bag of the same volume. Throughout thefilling operation including the removal of the bag from spout 41 therewas no appreciable leakage or spurting of material from the bag.

rFrom the preceding, it is seen that by positioning the container on thefilling spout with its filling opening at the bottom, many advantagesare obtained. In this connection, it is desirable that such container besubstantially upright. However, it may be inclined at any angle relativeto the horizontal as long as the material to be filled -docs not fall bygravity to the opposite end of the bag.

Although gas under pressure is desirable for forcing the material intothe container, an auger type feed alone or in conjunction with gas canbe employed. If just an auger type feed is employed, the inventionprovides the advantage of `a clean operation since in heretoforeconventional filling of a container from the top a considerable amountof dust is created by the material as it falls by gravity to thecontainer bottom, and leaks out around the filling spout. This dustproblem is extremely bothersome in the filling of markedly dust formingmaterials, such as carbon black. Moreover, as the materialconventionally falls by gravity into the bag it entraps air whichbecomes entrained, thus increasing the bulk of the material in thecontainer.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of introducing particles of pulverulent material into a gaspermeable container having a lateral opening adjacent an end thereofwhich comprises positioning said container substantially upright withsaid opening at the lower portion thereof and about a spout whichprojects through said opening, `and effecting fiow of said materialthrough said spout into said container While said container is sopositioned to cause the weight of said material to seal said materialabout said opening as material is introduced into the container and thusobviate leakage of material around said spout.

2. A method of introducing `particles of pulverulent material into lagas permeable bag having an opening adjacent an end thereof providedwith a fiexible closure valve which comprises positioning said bag in asubstantially upright position with said opening at the lower portionthereof and about a spout, effecting fiow of said material through saidspout into said bag while said bag is so positioned to cause material tocollect adjacent said spout and said valve as material is introducedinto said bag, and thereafter effecting separation between said bag andspout to cause the collected material to press said valve toward closedposition and thereby obviate spurting of material through such openingduring such separation.

3. A method of filling a multi-wall paper bag provided with a fillingopening at a corner thereof and with a flexible closure val-ve, whichcomprises positioning the bag with said opening at the bottom and abouta filling spout, effecting fiow of material in particle form throughsaid spout into said bag by fiow of gas while the bag is thus positionedwhereby material collects adjacent said spout to seal said materialabout said opening as material is introduced into the bag and thusobviate leakage of material through said opening, simultaneouslyagitating material by upward gas fiow through the material in the bag toenhance -deaeration of the material and venting of the gas through thebag walls, and thereafter effecting separation between said spout andsaid bag to cause material in the bag to force the bag valve towardclosing position.

4. A method of filling a substantially fiat gas permeable bag havingoppo-site side walls and a filling opening at a corner thereof intowhich a filling spout is adapted to extend laterally into the bag, whichcomprises supporting the bag in an upright position with the fillingopening at the lower end of the bag and with the spout projectingthrough said opening, while maintaining the exterior of the bagsubstantially at atmospheric pressure, effecting fiow of material inparticle form through said spout into said bag by fiow of gas while thebag is thus positioned whereby material in the bag is agitated by theupward fiow of gas and material entering the bag, thus enhancingdeaeration of the material and venting of the gas fiow through the bagwalls, and whereby material simultaneously collects about said spout toseal said material about said opening to thus obviate leakage ofmaterial through said opening, and thereafter effecting separationbetween said spout and said bag to cause material in the bag to forcethe bag valve toward a closed position.

5. Apparatus for filling a relatively fiat bag having opposite sidewalls and a lateral filling opening adjacent an end thereof, comprisinga substantially horizontal filling spout for projecting laterally intosaid filling opening with the bag in upright position and with thefilling opening at the lower end of the bag; means for supporting saidbag in said upright position during the filling, comprising a saddlestructure adjacent the underside of the spout to hold said lower end,and a side wall rest above said spout for engaging a side wall of thebag; and a clamping means adjacent the underside of said spout forpressing said lower end of the bag against said spout to hold said endagainst the bottom of the spout during said filling.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the clamping means is mounted forup and down movement, and said saddle structure is provided with anopening to accommodate said clamping means.

7. Apparatus for introducing particles of pulverulent material into agas permeable container having a lateral opening adjacent an end wallthereof comprising a substantially horizontal lling spout for projectinglaterally into the opening with the container in upright position andwith the opening at the lower end of the container to allow saidmaterial to be introduced upwardly from said spout into the container,and clamping means below said spout movably mounted for up and downmovement with reference to the underside of said spout to press saidlower end wall of the container against said spout underside and holdsaid end wall against the spout during introduction of material intosaid container.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 having container support means above thespout for maintaining said container in a substantially upright positionas material is introduced into the container.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 having a support adjacent to and spaced fromthe bottom of the spout and extending lengthwise thereof for holding thecontainer with said container lower end adjacent the underside of saidspout to support said container as material is introduced therein.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said container support means abovesaid spout comprises an upwardly projecting bracket mounted for lateraladjustment with respect to said spout, and a container side wall restprojecting from said bracket in a direction lengthwise of said spout.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said support adjacent the bottom ofsaid spout comprises a saddle structure for engaging the container endWall to stabilize the container with its filling opening at its lowerend.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said support adjacent the bottom ofsaid spout comprises a plurality of spaced apart rod-like members forengaging the lower end of said container.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,138,618 5/1915 Bates 141-1132,347,046 4/1944 Geiger 141-67 X 2,781,799 2/1957 Bradford 141-682,794,454 6/1957 Moulthrop 141-467 2,996,858 8/1961 Swenson 53-371 XLAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner. H. S. BELL, Assistant Examiner.

1. A METHOD OF INTRODUCING PARTICLES OF PULVERULENT MATERIAL INTO A GASPERMEABLE CONTAINER HAVING A LATERAL OPENING ADJACENT AN END THEREOFWHICH COMPRISES POSITIONING SAID CONTAINER SUBSTANTIALLY UPRIGHT WITHSAID OPENING AT THE LOWER PORTION THEREOF AND ABOUT A SPOUT WHICHPROJECTS THROUGH SAID OPENING, AND EFFECTING FLWO OF SAID MATERIALTHROUGH SAID SPOUT INTO SAID CONTAINER WHILE SAID CONTAINER IS SOPOSITIONED TO CAUSE THE WEIGHT OF SAID MATERIAL TO SEAL SAID MATERIALABOUT SAID OPENING AS MATERIAL IS INTRODUCED INTO THE CONTAINER AND THUDOBVIATE LEAKAGE OF MATERIAL AROUND SAID SPOUT.